n most of Hamilton County
and Ohio, possessing a small
amount of marijuana is a “minor misdemeanor,” the lowest level
offense. If you are caught with a joint,
the police simply give you a ticket and
you pay a fine. In the city of Cincinnati, however, you take a ride to the
Justice Center.
On March 29, 2006, Cincinnati City
Council voted 6 to 2 to increase the
penalty for possessing small amounts
of marijuana. Ordinance 910-23 elevated marijuana possession from a
minor misdemeanor, a pay-out ticket
that carries no more than a $100 fine,
to a fourth-degree misdemeanor, or
M4, which entails an arrest.

With the M4, pot smokers now
face up to a $250 fine and 30 days in
jail. Those arrested a second time are
charged with a first-degree misdemeanor, which carries up to a $1,000
fine and six months in jail.
More than 13,000 arrests have been
made under the M4 marijuana ordinance as of May 5 – a total of 13,263,
according to the Cincinnati Police
Department.
Thus Cincinnati distinguishes itself
from other municipalities in Hamilton County.
“Literally you could be standing on
one side of the street,” says Hamilton
County Municipal Judge Fanon Rucker, “then walk across the street and be
subjected to a different penalty.”

See Pot, p. 4

While California considers legalizing marijuana, Cincinnati has made it
a jailable offense. REUTERS/Alexandria Sage.

World Class Judge
Mark Painter moves to the United Nations
By Gregory Flannery
Editor

the law is, the law is, unless the General Assembly enacts new legislation,” Painter says.

ark Painter used to be a judge for
Hamilton County. Now he is a
judge for the world.
The longtime jurist recently returned from
the first sitting of the United Nations Appeals
Tribunal (UNAT), which met for three weeks
in Geneva, Switzerland.
President Barack Obama nominated Painter, and the UN General Assembly elected
him to one of seven seats on the new court’s
bench.
Painter, who retired from the Ohio First
District Court of Appeals to accept the new
post, is the only U.S. judge in UNAT. The other
six judges are from Argentina, France, Ghana,
India, Canada and Uruguay. In its inaugural
session, the panel heard 33 cases and ruled
unanimously on all of them.
“It’s a culturally, legally, racially and ethnically diverse court, but we agreed on every
case,” Painter says.
UNAT is the final legal step in deciding employment conflicts at the United Nations. The
cases include complaints about hiring, firing,
sexual harassment, pension rights and other
job-related disputes.
“We’re the highest court, so whatever we say

Important to Obama

M

Judge Mark Painter now serves on the United Nations
Appeals Tribunal. Photo by Aimie Willhoite.

You be the
judge....

Should the Drop Inn
Center move?
Page 3

As a judge in Hamilton County Common
Pleas Court and the state appeals court, Painter distinguished himself by his independence.
His opinions on the appeals court were a
study in legal acuity and sometimes colorful writing. Last year, for example, he blasted
both the Cincinnati Civil Service Commission
for barring former felons from city jobs and
his fellow appeals judges for upholding the
rule. He called his fellow judges’ ruling “baloney.” As for the city’s policy, he wrote, “When
people do turn their life around, we should
applaud and help them help themselves – not
ban them from employment by imposing arbitrary rules.”
His appointment as a United Nations judge
defied political conventions. Painter is a Republican. His nomination was by Obama, a
Democrat. Susan Rice, then the new U.S. ambassador to the UN, chose Painter, the candidate recommended by her staff.
“The staff told me they almost didn’t recommend me because they didn’t want to be

The percentage of arrests,
under Cincinnati’s
marijuana law, in
which the suspects are
African Americans
(see page 1).

400

StreetWise
By Gregory Flannery
Editor

Getting Beat Up Makes Us Look Bad
The brutal attack on a homeless camp on Mitchell Avenue last month made national
news, including a report in The New York Times. It wasn’t that John Johnson’s injuries –
requiring 18 stitches to close his head wounds – were so extraordinary; violent crime is
unfortunately common in the United States. It wasn’t that the attack was a deliberate
hate crime; such a thing happens with increasing frequency. The attack made national
headlines because three of the four alleged perpetrators, wielding baseball bats and
metal pipes, are active-duty soldiers in the U.S. Army (see “Soldiers Attack Homeless
Camp,” issue of May 1-14).
Some people in Spring Grove Village were most displeased by what happened. It wasn’t
that one of their neighbors was nearly killed by thugs who targeted him because he was
homeless. It wasn’t that some of their neighbors are forced to live outdoors for want of
affordable housing. No, what upset some residents was the fact that all that publicity
was bad for the neighborhood’s public image. One concerned citizen sent a link to a
TV news report (“Homeless Man Beaten by Campsite Intruders”) to Cincinnati Police
Chief Thomas Streicher, City Manager Milton Dohoney and members of city council.
Something must be done, the man wrote.
“That’s not the kind of headline news you would like your family and friends to read
about your neighborhood!” the letter said. “Well, neither do we.”
Spring Grove Village Community Council was ready to act. A posse – er, group of volunteers – was formed, intent on tearing down – “cleaning up” – the unsightly homeless
camp.

The amount of relocation
assistance, in dollars, paid
to people forced from the
Metropole Apartments
(see page 10).

But not so fast. It turns out that homeless people camping on public property still have
rights, as Cincinnati Police officers pointed out during a contentious meeting. Thanks
to the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless,
the city no longer bursts in and busts up homeless camps. Police officers now post a 72hour notice, giving homeless people time to move their belongings and social workers
an opportunity to find them housing.

60,000

With help from the commander and officers from Police District 5, Josh Spring, executive director of the Homeless Coalition, swayed the community council, appealing to
what most motivated them.

The number of people
who work for the
United Nations
(see page 1).

35

The age at which
basketball star Kobe
Bryant grew horns
(see page 14).

19

The daily pay, in dollars,
for a juror in Hamilton
County a few years ago
(see page 12).

First

The grade level in
which Andy Au
drew dinosaurs on
his spelling tests
(see page 16).

2006

The year Barbara F. Duke
lost her house and
become homeless
(see page 11).

“If Spring Grove Village doesn’t want bad PR, they need to work with the people at the
camp – not attack them,” Spring said.
It took some doing, but a compromise was reached. The community council agreed to
wait two weeks so that Spring and others could try to place the homeless campers in
housing. It helped that Spring promised to have TV cameras and other news media on
hand if the “volunteers” decided to take matters into their own hands.
That letter bemoaning the bad publicity, by the way, wasn’t sent to Mayor Mark Mallory.
That’s just as well. Mallory has been busy of late trying to force other homeless people
out – namely the residents of the Drop Inn Center (see “An Open Letter to the City of
Cincinnati,” page 3.)
Does Uncle Sam Want Skinheads?
Three of the four attackers have now been captured. Charged with felonious assault are
Michael Hesson, 24, of Norwood; Private Riley Feller, 24, stationed at Fort Knox; and
Spec. Travis Condor, 25, stationed at Fort Bragg. A fourth suspect, also stationed at Fort
Bragg, has not yet been caught.

“The message needs to get out there,” he said. “I’m just glad the media is staying on this
so we can educate people.”

The Greater Cincinnati
Coalition for the Homeless
is a 501(c)3 non-profit
organization that works
to eradicate homelessness
in Cincinnati through
coordination of services,
public education, grassroots
advocacy and Streetvibes.

Johnson said he has learned that hate crimes against homeless people are a nationwide
phenomenon. He has recently visited high-school students, describing his ordeal. The
fact that three of the suspects are U.S. soldiers points to the seriousness of the problem,
according to Johnson.

We are proud members of:

At an April 30 press conference, Johnson, 52, said he was encouraged by the attention
the attack has received.

“After I found out that the majority of them are military, that stepped it up, as far as I’m
concerned,” he said. “I can see a group of guys just being stupid, but as far as being
military, these guys are trained to injure people. That’s what they do – and that’s what
they did. How far were they willing to go? These guys didn’t care that I was a white guy
or a black guy. Their one concern was that I was homeless.”
Spring hopes the attack will lead to expansion of Ohio’s hate-crimes law to include protection for homeless people. He wants the U.S. Army to invite the Homeless Coalition
to conduct training sessions on homelessness for soldiers. He also wants the army to
quit accepting racist skinheads into its ranks.
“Why are they in the military?” Spring said. “If people are known for hate, do we really
want them representing our country? Do we trust them on the battlefield? This should
start a national conversation on who is allowed into the U.S. military.”

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

3

Column

Keep Drop Inn Center Where it Is
Make room for diversity and redevelopment
By Michelle Dillingham
Contributing Writer

nues and reduce property crime.
In cities across America and across the
world (indeed the word “gentrification” origiwas born in Boston on Joy Street in Bea- nated in England), affordable-housing advocon Hill in 1972. My parents met in an cates voice their disapproval over the loss of
art gallery at a poetry reading. It was a affordable units in the name of urban renewal.
neighborhood of artists, poets and writers. Developers and politicians support redevelNow it is habitated by what my father back in opment that attracts higher-income residents.
the ’80s would disdainfully call “yuppies.” To- For housing advocates, our main concerns are
day I would not be able to
access, availability and
afford an apartment on Joy
inclusion of affordable
Street, yet I have a signifiOther cities are experimenting
housing in re-developcantly higher income than
ment.
with inclusionary zoning
both my parents did back
Other cities are experordinances that require a share
then.
imenting with inclusionof new construction to be
I take a quick look at the affordable by people with low to ary zoning ordinances
old neighborhood on-line,
moderate incomes. It is hard to that require a share of
and the first description I imagine seeing such legislation new construction to be
find says, “Beacon Hill is
affordable by people
in Cincinnati given the fact
home to some of the most
with low to moderate inthat we are still fending off
expensive real estate in
comes. It is hard to imagexclusionary zoning.
America.” Wow, a lot can
ine seeing such legislachange in 30 (plus) years.
tion in Cincinnati given
Here in Cincinnati there has been a rapid the fact that we are still fending off exclusiontransformation in our urban core, specifi- ary zoning.
cally in one of our most historic and storied
Recently it has come to light that our city’s
neighborhoods, Over-the-Rhine. A non-profit political and economic leadership strongly
development corporation (Cincinnati Cen- encouraged the Drop Inn Center to relocate
ter City Development Corp., better known as from its current location. The implications are
3CDC) has strategically and by design invested that, as Washington Park is undergoing signifiand taken advantage of various tax incentives cant improvement and the new School for the
in order to restore and upgrade deteriorating Creative and Performing Arts has been built,
properties along our main streets – Vine, Race there really is no place for the Drop Inn Cenand Walnut. The influx of middle-class resi- ter. I would bet my reaction is shared by more
dents and business owners and the displace- than a few: While I really appreciate 3CDC’s
ment of lower-income people will inevitably role in the rehabilitation of our historic Overincrease property values, increase tax reve- the-Rhine housing stock and all that it brings,

I

to uproot one of Cincinnati’s few homeless
shelters that is centrally located for its clients
is just going too far.
Elizabeth Brown, president of the board of
Affordable Housing Advocates (AHA), has offered commentary outlining AHA’s concerns
over this issue (see below), and it delineates
many good points. My personal aversion to
moving the Drop Inn Center is first concern
for its clients and their ability to reasonably
access services. Second, I just believe an urban emergency homeless shelter should be
located in a city’s core.
This morning I drove down Liberty Street
and looked at the vacant, boarded-up buildings that line the street between Walnut and
Vine. I am genuinely grateful for the re-development that will be making its way to these
buildings as 3CDC forges northward. I imagine those buildings with window flower boxes,
small businesses on the street level, benches
in the courtyard … and hope that a few blocks
over the Drop Inn Center will still be there to
serve some of the 25,000 citizens a year who
experience homelessness in our city – our
veterans, families in foreclosure, some with
chronic illnesses, but most who are there simply due to a lack of affordable housing.
Clearly there is a delicate balance between
factors of safety, perceptions of safety, a racially and economically diverse urban core,
needed tax revenues to support city services
and our urban identity. My appeal to our city’s
leadership echoes advocates against displacement everywhere: The Drop Inn Center must
stay.

An Open Letter to
the City of Cincinnati
L
ast week AHA (Affordable Housing Advocates) learned of a meeting where the board of directors of
the Drop Inn Center were summoned to the
mayor’s office at City Hall with very little notice. Members of the board expected they
were meeting with the mayor; however, they
were greeted instead by a number of individuals including Vice Mayor Qualls, 3CDC's
Steve Leeper, and other members of the city
administration. The mayor reportedly informed everyone it was his intention that
the Drop Inn Center relocate, although to
where he did not identify. 3CDC then offered
to assist with the relocation cost to expedite
their move. Also reportedly, 3CDC in turn
then asked the city for funding to help them
move the Drop-Inn Center.
While 3CDC has been responsible for
some needed redevelopment, many citizens
are increasingly wary of their tactics and reliance on the city's coffers and political influence to promote an agenda that seems to
envision a totally gentrified downtown and
Over-the-Rhine. They seem to believe it is
necessary to drive out those Cincinnatians
who rely on affordable housing and social
services to make ends meet, in order to attract higher-income young professionals
and families.
Earlier this year 3CDC forced out the
Metropole Apartments to replace it with

a boutique hotel, and now
they are demanding not just
a downsizing but the complete removal of the Drop Inn
Center. We are extremely concerned about the loss of diversity and the loss of a mixedincome neighborhood. Other
non-profits, property owners
and businesses are asking, who
will be next?
Regardless of the decision
of the Drop Inn Center Board,
the community is concerned.
Where is the transparency? The
respect? Not just to the board,
staff and clients of the Drop
Inn Center but to the broader
community? Behind closed-doors meetings, convened with little notice, demanding
hasty decisions with an alternative site not
even identified?
A matter that has such a profound effect
on our community should not be conducted
in such a manner. Instead, the parties involved need to identify clear, constructive
goals rather than this useless posturing.
Members of the affordable-housing advocates community hope that our political
leadership and corporate community give
serious consideration to the broader context
of removing the Drop Inn Center and other

institutions that serve our lower-income
neighbors, because if we are serious about
being an attractive city for young professionals, a dynamic, vibrant city, we best not zone
out, buy out or force out the very diversity
that will engender that vision. We believe it is
possible for a new school, a homeless shelter, arts institutions, high-end housing and
affordable housing all to share a healthy, vibrant urban neighborhood.
Please don’t draw the battle lines with
“Get out of town” ultimatums. Let’s build
this community together.
Elizabeth Brown, AHA Board Chair
Elizabeth.Brown@uwgc.org

Want more Streetvibes? Check out the Streetvibes blog
http://streetvibes.wordpress.com

4

Local News

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

Cincinnati’s Marijuana Law Fiasco
Continued from page 1

time, Thomas said the police would not
spend their time targeting medical users and
Cincinnati differs from other cities as well. college students.
Philadelphia has taken steps to decrimi“That’s not who they’ll be going after,” he
nalize possession in an effort to relieve its said. “I’m not concerned about that because
crowded court system. In November, Cali- crime is occurring in our troubled neighborfornia voters will take the
hoods.”
initiative one step further:
It seemed that counOn March 29, 2006,
deciding whether to legalcil specifically intended
Cincinnati City
ize marijuana, allowing it
to subvert “equal justice
to be sold and taxed like
Council voted 6 to 2 to
under law.” While people
any other commodity.
in “troubled” neighborincrease the penalty
While some cities have
hoods would endure more
for possessing small
moved toward easing the
serious criminal charges
amounts of marijuana.
penalties, Cincinnati has
and greater penalties for
Ordinance 910-23
moved in the opposite
marijuana
possession,
elevated marijuana
direction. The result has
marijuana users in more
possession from a minor
been disastrous for poaffluent areas – even in
misdemeanor, a paylice effectiveness, court
areas of the city where the
out ticket that carries
and jail crowdedness and
same ordinance ostenno more than a $100
community welfare. As we
sibly applied – could get
fine, to a fourth-degree
approach the law’s fifth
high without police medmisdemeanor, or M4,
anniversary next year, the
dling.
which entails an arrest.
national trend toward deFour years later, that’s
criminalization presents
precisely what’s hapan opportunity to evaluate its impact.
pened.
Streetvibes identified three key findings in
‘Who they’ll be going after’
police data:
•
Few of those arrested under the orCity Councilman Cecil Thomas, a retired dinance were convicted of anything other
27-year veteran of the police department, than marijuana, meaning that police searchled the 2006 effort to stiffen the penalty. He es have not, by and large, turned up guns or
was and remains the chair of city council’s additional drugs.
Public Safety Committee. Earlier this month,
•
African Americans bear the brunt of
he narrowly lost the Democratic primary to the law. Almost 9 out of 10 people arrested
Jim Tarbell in the race for Hamilton County between March 29, 2006, and May 5, 2010,
Commissioner.
were black (85 percent) and male (89 perTarbell was Thomas’s fellow councilmem- cent). Cincinnati is 46.5 percent black and
ber in 2006 and condemned the “regressive” 52 percent white, and whites actually use
ordinance.
marijuana at a higher rate. Some 44 percent
“This is a class issue,” Tarbell said (pro- of whites, compared to 39 percent of blacks,
phetically, as it turns out). “The people have used marijuana, according to the 2005
caught and prosecuted will be low-income National Survey on Drug Use & Health. ElevAfrican Americans.”
en to 12 percent of both whites and blacks
But the new law would aid police, accord- used marijuana in the previous year.
ing to Thomas.
•
Simply put, despite the same usage
“The most important aspect of this (ordi- rate, blacks are six times more likely than
nance) is it gives officers an additional tool whites to be arrested for using marijuana in
for search and seizure,” he said.
Cincinnati.
Police cannot search people cited for mi•
Certain neighborhoods are overnor misdemeanors. Petty marijuana posses- represented. Most of the arrests occurred
sion is a minor misdemeanor according to in Police District 1 (Downtown, OverOhio state law.
the-Rhine) and District 4 (Walnut Hills to
“Bumping it up to an M4 might seem like Hartwell, including Avondale). For example,
a small change, but in fact, all these proce- in 2009, District 1 posted 29 percent of the
dures kick in,” says Rob Wall, an attorney at marijuana arrests with just 6 percent of the
the Ohio Justice & Policy Center. “Officers city’s population while District 2 (centered
can arrest you, search you and bring you around Hyde Park) posted near-opposite
downtown. The law wasn’t about marijuana; numbers: 8 percent of the arrests, 26 percent
it was about initiating a police search.”
of the population.
David Crowley joined Tarbell in voting
Streetvibes reached out to Councilman
“no.” The “yes” votes were Thomas, Chris Thomas repeatedly over a three-week periBortz, Laketa Cole, John Cranley, Leslie Ghiz od to comment for this article. Phone and eand Chris Monzel. Jeff Berding was absent mail messages, left with both his city council
on the day of the vote, but he voted for the office and his political campaign, were not
measure two weeks earlier as a member of returned.
the Public Safety Committee. The bill passed
The Cincinnati Police Department prowith a veto-proof majority. Mayor Mark Mal- vided recent statistics but declined to comlory, who opposed the measure, withheld his ment on the law.
signature as the bill became law.
The evidence
Some backers of the law argued that
heightened penalties could point offenders
The anti-marijuana ordinance included a
toward drug treatment. In fact, both then
and now, drug court only accepts felony “sunset” clause, meaning council had to redrug offenders, not those arrested for small new it the next year or it would expire. Counamounts of marijuana, who likely do not cil again took up the debate in March 2007.
Council began by reviewing the impact. In
need drug treatment anyway.
According to newspaper reports at the the first 11 months of the law, according to

the city manager’s report, 3,285 individuals
were arrested under the ordinance. Cincinnati Police confiscated 62 guns, 2.81 kg of
crack cocaine, 0.24 kg of cocaine and 0.10 kg
of heroin – altogether, about two percent of
the 141 kg drug haul in 2006. Unsurprisingly,
a law targeting petty users turned up a relatively small amount of drugs.
Of the first 3,285 arrests, 61 percent (2,010)
resulted in the M4 marijuana conviction,
while 14 percent (469) were convicted of different offenses or did not result in a conviction, indicating that the law generally did
not turn up guns or heavier drugs.
Another 14 percent (452) resulted in open
warrants and 11 percent (347) had not settled by the time of the report. Seven arrests
were unaccounted for.
The city spent an additional $41,200 in the
first 11 months, primarily to pay for defense
attorneys to represent the new defendants.
By law, anyone facing the possibility of jail
time has the right to an attorney. That cost
did not include police officers’ expenses,
the expense of the additional court time required to try those cases or the cost of bringing officers to testify at trial.
Advocates for repeal argued that an individual with a dime bag (worth $10) should
not face the same penalty as someone carrying 200 grams (worth about $2,500). Both
are fourth-degree misdemeanors under the
ordinance. The Cincinnati Police told Streetvibes that arrest data do not include information on drug weight.
During the 2007 debate over whether
to renew the law, council members seized
upon the 62 confiscated guns and additional
grams of drugs as evidence that the law was
working.
Jim Tarbell contested that view and appealed to the larger picture. He argued that
the law and its repercussions had “the potential to cause great harm to this community.”
“We now have 2,000 people who were
not in the system before,” Tarbell said in
remarks to the full council regarding those
now marked by a criminal record.
“I am compelled by the confiscation of
62 guns,” he continued, “but in the context
of what else is going on here, I’m not (compelled). I think that our attention to other
enforcement issues would probably result
in the same kind of success without the prospective downside.”
If the goal is to get guns off the street, it
would be more effective to target criminal
activity other than marijuana, according to
Jason Haap and Michael Earl Patton of the
Cincinnati Beacon, who have lobbied against
the ordinance since it was first proposed. In
the first 11 months, the ratio of guns per arrest broke down to one gun per 53 marijuana
arrests. But for all arrests in 2006, the guns
per arrest ratio was 1 in 33 (1,442 guns confiscated during 41,525 arrests). Marijuana
users simply harbored guns at a much lower
rate than other people arrested.
Meanwhile, in the year after the ordinance
became law, violent crime in Cincinnati actually increased – murders by 16 percent,
burglaries by 7 percent and robberies by 44
percent.
A review of anti-marijuana laws in the
Journal of Drug Issues (April 2007) found
that get-tough policies often increase violent
crime. The economist-researchers hypothesized that police crackdowns on marijuana
disrupted flow, which increased demand for
the limited supply, which in turn raised prices and led users to commit more burglaries
and robberies in search of cash.
Since writing a ticket for a minor misdemeanor takes 15 minutes, while completing
an arrest for an M4 takes much longer, Cin-

See Pot, p. 5

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

5

Local News

Cincinnati’s Marijuana Law Fiasco
Continued from page 4
cinnati Police officers have devoted more
time to policing marijuana possession. According to the online watchdog Prioritize
Cincinnati, Cincinnati police dedicated
2,261 hours in 2006 to enforcing marijuana
possession, compared to 1,464 in 2005, an
increase of 54 percent.
“The police were so busy taking people
to jail for smoking pot – I had several officers admit this to me – that they could not
respond,” testified Price Hill resident Scott
Jetter in front of city council in 2007 about
a burglary on his home. “Three and a half
hours response time, minimum. The same
officers did admit that if I walked out to the
street and lit up a joint, they’d be there in less
than five minutes to arrest me.”
The additional hours spent tracking down
potheads did not reduce
other crime, according to
Many support
the studies and statistics
legalizing marijuana, above, and may have actually contributed to it by disincluding 37
percent of Ohioans tracting law enforcement
from surer methods.
and 59 percent of
Nevertheless, city council
those aged 18 to
renewed the ordinance by
29, according to
a 7-2 vote. No one changed
a 2009 University
his or her vote.
of Cincinnati
Council tweaked the lanpoll. Presumably,
guage in the 2007 renewal.
even more
The original ordinance
Ohioans support
criminalized 100 grams of
decriminalizing
marijuana or less as an M4.
marijuana – that
The new version criminalis, not making it
ized 200 grams or less. The
explicitly legal, as
change had no impact,
the poll queried,
however, because possessbut treating it as a
payout offense, on ing 100 to 200 grams was
par with a speeding already an M4 under Ohio
law.
or parking ticket.
Beyond crime, the ordinance sets up repercussions
that are less quantifiable but no less injurious to the community. The ordinance exacerbates court expenses and jail overcrowding, while undermining community morale
and an offender’s opportunity for a second
chance.

Minor crimes, massive waste
An entire cast of characters must assemble
every time the court comes to order: prosecutors, defenders, defendants (sometimes
taking days off work), the judge, the judge’s
clerk, witnesses, court stenographers and
bailiffs, not to mention regular courthouse
security and administration.
As a result, prosecuting misdemeanors
is not cheap, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in
its 2009 report, aptly titled, “Minor Crimes,
Massive Waste.”
A recent report of the Ohio Justice & Policy
Center raised another concern: “Flooding
the system with these misdemeanor cases is
equivalent to swamping an emergency room
with head colds and nosebleeds.” The flood
prevents police and court personnel from
identifying truly important cases.
The ordinance’s impact on jail overcrowding – a perennial topic in Hamilton County
politics – is less pronounced but still noticeable. After being arrested, an individual is
processed through the Justice Center, which
takes several hours. Some may stay overnight. Since 2006, police have chosen to take
three out of four people arrested under ordi-

nance 910-23 to the Justice Center.
Despite the possibility of jail time, offenders typically pay fines instead.
“While every case is judged on its own
facts, the typical penalty might be a $100
fine, plus court costs,” Municipal Judge
Fanon Rucker says.
A sampling of cases from the Hamilton
County Clerk of Courts found that fines varied from $20-$200 but hovered around $100,
with defendants responsible for paying an
additional $104 in “court costs.”
No one gets sent to jail simply for marijuana possession, Rucker says.
“For marijuana, I do not treat defendants
differently based on whether their offense
occurred in Cincinnati or outside city limits,” he says.
He acknowledges that the legal consequences differ. Some defendants walk away
with minor misdemeanors while others
leave with fourth-degree misdemeanors.
He also notes that many defendants
charged under the city ordinance “tend to be
of more modest means financially, so even a
$100 fine can cause great disruption in their
lives.” Their employers also might be less
forgiving when defendants must leave work
to attend court.
Those who do not pay the fine may be
held in contempt of court. Jail time is a possible penalty.
“You may get a ‘stay to pay’ if you can’t
pay the fine,” says Danielle Anderson, an attorney with the Ohio Justice & Policy Center
who has defended marijuana cases. “The
judge will say, ‘Come back on this date,’ and
the defendant will come back, still unable
to pay, and the judge will set another court
date. It just goes on and on and on.”
It is not unusual to see cases stretching six
months or even a year until finally resolved.
The city can still reverse these burdens by
reclassifying marijuana possession as a minor misdemeanor, which would bring Cincinnati into accord with Ohio law and most
Ohio cities.

‘Disastrous’ impact
For many people, however, the damage is
done. There is no reversal.
“Say a person made a mistake at age 18
and committed theft,” says Rob Wall, the
Ohio Justice & Policy Center attorney. “Then
at age 19, they get caught with a joint. That’s
not uncommon; it happens all the time. With
two convictions, they’ll never get that record
sealed. Those convictions will be with them
20, 30 years later and for the rest of their
lives.
“In Ohio, you cannot get a misdemeanor
or felony expunged if you have more than
one. If that person had been caught with
marijuana outside of Cincinnati, say in Norwood, the charge would have been a minor
misdemeanor. Half a mile can make a big
difference in a person’s life.”
It would have allowed that individual to
qualify for an expungement.
“Your opportunity to get a second chance
in Cincinnati is lower than elsewhere in the
state,” Wall says.
It’s a question of fairness, he says. Why
should members of poor or marginalized
communities, who tend to live within city
limits, face greater obstacles?
“Making it harder for people with records
to work or get a second chance probably
wasn’t the city’s intention,” Wall says, “but
that is exactly what it does. The impact has

2009 Arrests by Geographic Region
Region
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
Total

% of
population

% of
marijuana
arrests

6

29

26

8

28

20

19

29

21

14

100
100
Source: Cincinnati Police Department (2010);
U.S. Census (2000)
been disastrous.”
Also important is the impact on housing.
Individuals and their families lose housing vouchers on the basis of M4 marijuana
convictions, disadvantaging Cincinnati residents over others in Hamilton County.
Some 97 million Americans, 4 in 10 people over age 12, have tried marijuana at least
once. That doesn’t indicate great respect for
legal authority. That lack of respect, some
advocates have argued, has a multiplier effect. When lawmakers criminalize an activity that you do not find improper, you lose
respect for the law.
Many support legalizing marijuana, including 37 percent of Ohioans and 59 percent
of those aged 18 to 29, according to a 2009
University of Cincinnati poll. Presumably,
even more Ohioans support decriminalizing
marijuana – that is, not making it explicitly
legal, as the poll queried, but treating it as
a payout offense, on par with a speeding or
parking ticket.
These findings, the national trend toward
decriminalization and new faces on city
council raise hopes of a repeal. In a Cincinnati Beacon interview, newly elected Councilman Charlie Winburn said, “It should be
repealed because it is taking up police time
and bogging down our court system and jail
space.” In another Beacon interview, newly
elected Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan
said, “If the ordinance has not produced
good results for citizens and in fact is a drain
on resources, I’ll be in favor of repealing it.”
With those criteria, it is hard to see how she
could vote any other way.
Councilman Thomas, in arguing for expanding police searches, suggested that the
new ordinance would reduce violent crime.
The opposite might have happened. Ordinance 910-23 has not fetched more guns than
the average arrest. It has exacerbated racial
disparities as police rack up easy arrests in
targeted neighborhoods. It has flooded our
courthouse and crowded our jail. It has needlessly criminalized thousands of Cincinnatians over the past four years. On 13,263 occasions, Cincinnatians have passed through
our courthouse to plead before judges who
then sentenced them as if they had been
convicted of a minor misdemeanor anyway.
That’s thousands of people who returned to
the courthouse time and again to pay, ironically enough, their court costs.
Ordinance 910-23 was based on wishful thinking. With mounting evidence of its
harm, members of city council would be
wise to focus on misdemeanors that are actually worthy of that name, instead of offering up their constituents as casualties of the
war on drugs.

If you like what you read, but don’t live in the Cincinnati area, you
can subscribe to Streetvibes. Call us at 513-421-7803 x 12 to learn
more about subscribing to Streetvibes.

6

Local News

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

Painter Joins UN Appeals Tribunal
Continued from page 1

$600 per night.
“We found a hotel that was $250 per
overruled on this first recommendanight, which was the best we were able
tion,” Painter says. “They believed my
to do,” Painter says. “You could not fall
being a Republican would be a major
in the room without hitting the bed.”
factor and would queer the deal.”
The court only has one law clerk for
But prominent Democrats, includseven judges.
ing Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, State Sen.
“We don’t even have office space
Eric Kearney – whose wife attended
in New York,” Painter says. “The UN
law school with Obama – and CincinBuilding is closed for three years for
nati Mayor Mark Mallory, wrote letters
renovations. Their offices are spreadurging Painter’s selection.
ing all over Manhattan.”
“That neutralized the RepublicanThe United Nations Appeals TribuDemocrat thing,” Painter says.
nal replaces a system of administraU.S. Sen. George Voinovich and fortive review for personnel complaints.
mer U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, both Re“They called the last step a tribunal
publicans, also urged Obama to nomibut it wasn’t a court because its decinate Painter.
sions were only recommendations to
But that was just the first step. Paintyour boss,” Painter says. “That’s not
er was one of 200 judges from around
necessarily a justice system.”
the world who applied for the new
In 2006 a blue-ribbon panel made
court. Next came a two-hour exam at
up of representatives of staff and manThe Hague, in the Netherlands.
Judge Mark Painter with United Mations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. agement came up with the new sys“They said you would have to study,” Photo courtesy of UNAT.
tem, including a trial court and UNAT,
Painter says. “I hadn’t taken an exam
the appeals court.
since the bar exam in ’73. They gave us a fact scenario, complex cases from the
Although UNAT’s jurisdiction is limited to personnel issues, not criminal
old system, staff rules that applied and said, ‘Write an opinion.’ The next day, matters, the first cases have already included the kind of drama that make law
in the interview, they picked apart your opinion.”
stimulating – and give a writer of Painter’s caliber ample fodder. Even when his
The final hurdle was winning election to the court. That meant convincing writing is restrained, it is telling. Consider the opinion he wrote in the matter
the UN General Assembly.
of Mohammed Bustanji, who wanted to win back his job as a maintenance
“I had never been at the United Nations Building until I went there to cam- supervisor with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
paign in March of last year,” Painter says. “How do you campaign – put yard Near East (UNRWA).
signs in the building?”
“Suffice it to say that Bustanji was accused of making grossly improper adNot exactly. Instead, Rice organized diplomatic receptions for fellow ambas- vances to the wife of another UN employee,” Painter wrote.
sadors.
In another case – a pension fight whose international drama began with a
“The American ambassador lives at the top of the Waldorf, which is very marriage certificate in Cincinnati and a “questionable” divorce in Cameroon –
nice,” Painter says. “I got to talk to almost every European delegate. Susan Rice Painter’s opinion asserts the new court’s independence.
did a lot of talking. She said it was very important to President Obama that I
“Though the U.S. Probate Court finding is certainly not binding on this
be elected.”
court,” he writes, “it is evidence that we find credible.”
Rice is one of three U.S. representatives with ambassadorial status at the
That sentence also captures something of Painter’s legal persona: He beUN.
lieves in plain talk, common sense and following rules.
“All three of them worked the phones,” Painter says. “They really wanted an
The United Nations has about 60,000 employees, including peacekeepers,
American on the court.”
with access to the UN’s new judicial system. Painter says UNAT expects to hear
about 120 cases a year.
‘Suffice it to say’
The new court has made clear that it will be expeditious. Scheduled to hear
27 cases in its first session, UNAT decided 33.
Being a United Nations judge is among the most prestigious judicial posts
“The staff was shocked, because some of them had been with the old sysin the world but it isn’t especially lucrative. The job is “piece work,” as Painter tem,” Painter says. “They hadn’t been used to working with professional judges.
puts it: Judges are paid by the case.
The old system sometimes took a decade or more to get cases through. We’ve
Painter has a pension for his long years as a judge in Ohio. He also gives taken the position that the time deadlines in the new system are just that –
seminars on legal writing to attorneys around the world.
deadlines.”
“I’ll make more money on that than I will at the UN,” he says.
And so it was that Mohammed Bustanji, who had made “grossly improper
Painter’s colleagues will actually fare better than he.
advances,” lost his last appeal. He was late on the paperwork – twice. The new
“The U.S. is one of the few countries that taxes UN pay, so my colleagues court will have nothing of it.
won’t have to pay taxes,” he says.
“Bustanji has filed a time-barred appeal of a time-barred appeal,” Painter’s
Traveling to Geneva for work might sound glamorous, but prices there out- ruling says. “He has provided no explanation for either delay; he does not compace the per diem paid by the UN for expenses.
ment on UNRWA’s argument that the case must be dismissed. It must, and we
“Geneva has absolutely outrageous prices,” Painter says.
do.”
Breakfast could cost almost $50, a pint of beer $9, he says. One hotel was

ote to Downtown Cincinnati Inc.: It is
legal to put money in your bank account unless you have embezzled it. It
is legal to drive a Mercedes Benz unless you are
drunk. It is legal to have sex unless your partner
says no.
Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI) is distributing cards discouraging people from giving money
to panhandlers. Headlined “Know the Facts,” the
cards open by saying, “In summary, it is legal to
panhandle except …” There follows a litany of
Cincinnati’s panhandling restrictions.
Asking strangers for help is protected as free
This is the language rejected by Downtown Cincinnati, Inc.
speech under the U.S. Constitution, according to
the Supreme Court. Moreover, giving to beggars is
DCI rejected the Homeless Coalition’s language. But DCI had to
considered virtuous in nearly every faith tradition. Prophet Muham- back down on a “feel good” closing to its anti-panhandling pitch. Its
mad commanded almsgiving. Jesus of Nazareth told his disciples to original language listed the names and phone numbers of homeless
beg for their sustenance. The Buddha begged. Jews consider giving shelters and food pantries that people could support instead of givto beggars a mitzvah or good deed. Even so, beggars have been per- ing dimes to penniless beggars on the sidewalk. But those organizasecuted in every age and almost every place. Thus, DCI’s effort to dis- tions wanted nothing to do with DCI’s attack on panhandlers, and
DCI dropped them from the literature.
courage kindness has lots of unholy precedent.
When DCI was preparing its anti-panhandler cards, the Greater
DCI also agreed to a demand by the Homeless Coalition to drop a
Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless proposed alternative lan- photo of an unkempt beggar. But the card’s intent is plain: “It’s legal
guage. The alternative listed facts about homelessness: Sixty percent to panhandle except …”
of people who experience homelessness work daily, and only 1 perDCI hasn’t said whether it will issue instructional postcards on
cent regularly panhandle … The fastest growing demographic with- other themes. The opportunities are endless: It is legal to vote unless
in homelessness is families with children … The primary causes of you have already cast a ballot in the same election. It is legal to enter
homelessness are lack of affordable housing and living-wage employ- a home at 4 a.m. unless it belongs to someone else and you don’t have
permission …
ment.

A Film for a Time of Rebellion
Howard Zinn takes on American history
By Corey Gibson
Contributing Writer

I

n the film Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon’s character, Will Hunting, says, “If
you want to read a real history book, read
Howard Zinn's People’s History of the United
States. That book will knock you on your ass.”
And he was right. The People Speak, a film
inspired by Zinn’s book, A
People’s History of the United
In one of the best States, captures the history
of America and the strugperformances in
the film, Christina gle people went through to
Kirk reads Susan overcome unfair treatment
and achieve equality.
B. Anthony’s
Zinn – a radical historian,
refusal in court
to pay a $100 fine activist and teacher who
died in January at age 87 –
for trying to cast
a ballot before the and director Chris Moore
use spoken word and song
19th Amendment
to tell the story of America
to the U.S.
Constitution gave in The People Speak. But instead of looking at history
the women the
as it is usually presented,
right to vote.
through the eyes of presidents and military generals,
Zinn looks at history through the eyes of the
radicals, the poor, the slaves, the feminists, the
anti-war protesters and many more. The film
asks us to change the way we see America. It
asks us to forget what our history books have
told us and to see the real history of America.
To tell the stories of these people, actors and
songwriters read from court transcripts, sing
songs written by slaves and read speeches that
changed the course of American history. The
cast is well stocked, with actors such as Morgan
Freeman and Sean Penn and musicians such as
Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Each reads a

piece of written history with emotion and passion.
Unlike the celebrities reading their words,
the people who wrote much of what is read in
the movie are people unknown to most Americans. Benjamin Bratt reads a letter from J.W.
Loguen, a former slave, who writes sarcastically to his master that he will never return to slavery even if his former owner wants him to. David Strathairn reads abolitionist John Brown’s
remarks to the court after being sentenced to
death for the raid on Harper’s Ferry, trying to
launch an armed insurrection to end slavery.
Other names and speeches are a bit more familiar, for example, Muhammad Ali’s speech to
reporters stating he was not going to fight in the
Vietnam War because the war is here in America. Morgan Freeman reads an angry speech by
Frederick Douglass about the hypocrisy of the
Fourth of July. He was upset because the United States was celebrating its freedom and independence, while more than four million people
were being kept as slaves
In one of the best performances in the film,
Christina Kirk reads Susan B. Anthony’s refusal
in court to pay a $100 fine for trying to cast a
ballot before the 19th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution gave the women the right to vote.
The readings, coupled with video images
and newsreels, show, “The rise of America
came from the bottom, not the top,” Zinn, the
film’s narrator, says. He also says America’s history is tyrannical and one of great wars, mass
killings and expansion for money, yet a single
rebellious group can bring about great change
in a mighty nation. Rebellions brought about
the New Deal, civil rights, women’s rights and
many other aspects of our history; America
was formed by its own people rebelling.
The film, shown April 23 at the University of

Cincinnati by the International Socialist Organization, was followed by a discussion that focused on the present state of the government
and the ways we as people can step up, as the
people in the film had, and make the changes
we want. The film seemed to inspire everyone
in the room. Discussion also turned to the education system and new legislation in Arizona
that is biased against people of Mexican descent.
The audience seemed energetic and positive.
One person said, “We are capable of creating a
society we enjoy and can be together in.”

y former supervisor, Pat Mac, passed this scrumptious soup recipe on to me. A food connoisseur like me, he frequently came to
work boasting about the “best meal” he made the night before and
more often than not proceeded to elicit my hunger by describing in detail how
he prepared each dish. It was a morning ritual. This soup interested me as I
had tried to concoct my own potato soup recipes with haphazard success. I
remember I jotted each ingredient on a cocktail napkin, which I still have hidden away in my recipe book today. Now I make it frequently for my family,
especially on cool days. It’s super easy and inexpensive. This recipe appears to
be the only dish I make for which both my children ask for seconds or thirds
and then proceed to lick their bowls clean.

•
•
•
•
•
•

In large stockpot, bring veggie broth and potatoes to boil. Cover,
turn to low heat and simmer 30 minutes stirring frequently to
keep potatoes from sticking.
Once potatoes have simmered 15 minutes, heat oil and butter
in a large skillet over medium-low heat and sauté the onion and
garlic 3-4 minutes until the onions turn translucent.
Add celery and carrots to the onions and garlic and sauté an additional 2 minutes.
Add sautéed veggies to potatoes in stockpot and stir. Continue
simmering about 10 minutes.
Turn stockpot heat up slightly to medium-low and slowly mix
in the cream.
Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly in a figure 8 pattern to keep
from scorching the cream.
Add salt and pepper and other preferred spices.
Serve while hot. For an added yum factor, serve with rolls, biscuits or Italian bread.
Voila, FEED!

Artwork By Anthony Williams

!
?
t
ha

W
y
Sa ___________________
Women, who are a majority of the peoples of the earth, are
indispensable to the accumulation of the kind of social capital
that is conducive to development, peace, justice and civility.
-- Mahnaz Afkhami

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

9

Poetry Page

Shutter Speed

Eye of the Storm
By Alli Cryder
Dark light
Not bright
Confused by the site
Am I here? Are we here?
Is this where we’re supposed to be?
Thoughts racin’
Time’s changin’
My mind’s a lacin’
The room quiet
Filled with this unknown happy tension
I sit, and ponder
I walk, over yonder
How long could they be in this storm?
The invisible thunder crashing upon their innocence
The colorless lightning striking their indestructible smile
If only, if only they knew
They are the future
They are the light
They are the way out
I’m looking through the eyes of the voiceless
Their sparkle gets me lost
Am I here? Are we here?
Is this where we’re supposed to be?
They’re trapped
Stuck in this life where they had no choice
But their dreams have no barriers
They are the carriers
Of this forgotten light
They are the eye of the storm

What’s Going On
By Willa D. Jones

Students at the University of Cincinnati made peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches April 29 during WorldFest Week on campus. Intended
to increase student awareness of homelessness and poverty in
Cincinnati, the project was sponsored by Serve Beyond Cincinnati,
which organizes service trips to help improve living conditions around
the world, according to Mark Teschauer, the group’s vice president.
Teschauer said the sandwiches went to the Drop Inn Center and other
homeless shelters and soup kitchens in the city. Photo by Jon Hughes/
Photopresse.

What’s going on asked singer Marvin Gaye
What’s going on in our world of today
Stealing from each other, killing one another
Lying, cheating and still calling each other brother
Disillusioned by what our lives should really be
Misunderstanding that we were born in sin you and me
Forgetting each day to let live and let love
Forgetting to give all praises due to God from above
Everyone needs to take time out to pray
And ask God to forgive our sins each and every day
To replace hate with peace and love wherever we can
Only then can we see what’s going on all over the land
So for me this is what’s really going on
We as a people must come together before all life is gone

Silence
Cleo’s Joke Corner

What do you call on an octopus
that’s down on its luck?
Squid Row.

By Willa D. Jones
Silence is something the elders and the people from the
old school call golden.
Silence is something that, when you are homeless and
confused,
That is when your silence is stolen.
Silence is God’s gift to man to either be quiet and listen
Or close one’s mind.
You must make a choice.
Silence is everybody’s conscience. It is everybody’s
chance
To simply shut up and listen to God’s voice.

10

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

Guest Column

Seeking Understanding in OTR
Students
study 3CDC
and poverty

By Tim Kopenhafer and
Francesco DeSalvatore
Contributing Writers

W

hen the first New
Voices
meeting took place at
Princeton High School, David
Rosenthal, the New Voices
instructor and director of
Prairie Gallery, asked us one
question: “Why are you doing
this?”
Answers varied. Some of
us had more experience and
knowledge with Over-theRhine, while others were less
informed. But overall everyone shared a passion to learn
and help out the Over-theRhine community.
We were told to bring two
things – our cameras and ourselves. From there our mission was to use our cameras
to document and present the
situation at the Metropole
Apartments and the efforts
of the Cincinnati Center City
Development Corp. (3CDC)
in Over-the-Rhine.
Our first week was met with
shock and bewilderment as
we walked past Washington
Park. Many of us have had
the privilege of growing up
in picturesque suburbs and
have never experienced poverty to such an extent. It was
unsettling in a way, and we
felt slightly uncomfortable
with our expensive cameras.
As we got used to this new
reality, we began to gain confidence and understanding
to capture the scenes laid out
before us. We began to realize
that we were not documenting Over-the-Rhine as a group
of students but as individuals

Photo by Tim Kopenhafer.

with different perspectives
and mindsets.
Week one of our project
began with a tour of the Drop
Inn Center. We were shown
all of their facilities and had
a discussion with the staff
about how one ends up in a
place like the Drop Inn Center. Whether it’s due to alcoholism or the loss of a job,
people at the Drop Inn Center have experienced some
of the harshest realities life
has to offer. One of the most
important things that we noticed at the Drop Inn Center
was the lack of support that
the city has shown. In the
coming year, the new School
for the Creative and Performing Arts building will be completed and some believe the
Drop Inn Center will have to
change locations, regardless
of the fact that it has been at
the same location for many
years.
In addition to the tour of
the Drop Inn Center, Overthe-Rhine resident Bonnie
Neumeier also gave us a tour
of the community. She reiterated some of the things
that we had seen and heard
at the Drop Inn Center. The
city has continued to ignore
the poverty problem in Overthe-Rhine and has instead
stepped aside to let 3CDC
continue constructing new
buildings in the area.
Week three of our project
consisted of a tour of two
buildings being renovated by
3CDC. We were able to see
what kinds of apartments
were being built and get the
developer’s perspective. It
was very clear from the beginning that the workers had
no real connection to the
area and had probably never
spoken to a resident of Overthe-Rhine. They were very
enthusiastic and praised the

Photo by Francesco DeSalvatore.
luxurious apartments that
were being built, but not
once did they mention how it
would benefit the residents of
Over-the-Rhine.
There seemed to be a clear
divide on Vine Street between
3CDC buildings and the rest
of Over-the-Rhine. The difference between one end of the
street and the other was quite
surreal. Obviously, the people
moving into these flats were
not Over-the-Rhine residents
but people from elsewhere.
While it’s always a good sign
to see business move into a
neighborhood, it doesn’t solve
all of the problems. Over-theRhine has an immense poverty issue and 3CDC is simply
invading Over-the-Rhine, not
moving in.
After our time in Over-the-

Rhine, our group went to the
Metropole Apartments, where
low-income housing is offered. 3CDC recently bought
the building and is planning
to open a hotel there. 3CDC
has offered the residents $400
if they relocate.
Immanuel, a long time resident of one of the low-income
apartments, gave us a tour of
the historic building. He explained to us that 3CDC was
forcing Metropole residents
to move and that the apartments they were offering residents were in communities
that had high crime and poverty. Many of the residents
have not only been fortunate
enough to live in the center of
Cincinnati, but are also able
to live in low-income housing, something that is uncom-

mon in the downtown area.
This has made it very hard
for the residents to move out
because they have become so
comfortable with the area.
In addition to visiting
the Metropole, we traveled
to Louisville, Ky., to visit an
apartment complex operated
by 21C, the company that
will operate the new hotel at
the Metropole. 21C is a hotel
developer known for its commitment to modern art and
luxury. 21C likes to display local modern art and also work
with the community to develop art within the city. The
vice president of 21C said the
company is excited to build
a hotel in Cincinnati and is
confident it will be successful.
After seeing and hearing
both sides, it is still unclear if
the residents at the Metropole
are being treated fairly. There
have been many construction
companies that have simply
evicted their residents without even offering another option, however 3CDC’s option
is not one viewed with much
favor. From the beginning of
this project, our goal was to
find our opinion about the
situation in Over-the-Rhine
and at the Metropole and
then show it through our images. While there is still a lot
to learn, it is very clear that
Cincinnati has failed to deal
with the poverty in Over-theRhine. Until the city does so,
it will be very difficult to discuss the possibility of changing Over-the-Rhine for the
better.
Tim Kopenhafer and Francesco DeSalvatore are seniors
at Princeton High School. The
work from New Voices will be
presented at The Coffee Emporium May 28 and remain
on display through June.

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

11

Issues

Facebooking the Facts
Two college students take on the network media
By Ariana Shahandeh
Contributing Writer

A

few months ago I sent an invitation on Facebook to about
a quarter of the people on my friends’ list. I thought they’d
appreciate an effort to recognize a political leader's positive contributions. The invitation was to join a group called “Accomplishments of President Barack Obama.” The next day my inbox was
full of mixed responses. One message that stood out was, “You know
Obama, like, deleted habeas corpus, right?”
What followed was an extensive online conversation during which
I had to minimize my browser window several times to verify claims
my friend had made and hastily recheck claims I intended to make.
Ultimately, we both walked away in civility, thinking about quotations, policies and legislation we hadn’t originally known about.
However, with such a charged subject, I can’t imagine what kind of
interchange it would have become had we not had other resources
in front of us.
Or maybe I can. It might have been similar to the interactions
between guests and hosts on Sunday morning news shows such
as Meet the Press with host David Gregory. An online fact-checking
group, Meet the Facts, recently started raising awareness about the
amount of misinformation that goes unchecked.
“This whole issue is kind of like a sore – a sore on the media,” says
Paul Breer, co-founder of Meet the Facts. “When people go on Meet
the Press, it’s anything goes. They can say whatever they want. Sure,
every once in a while Gregory will call them out on it, but the guests
know what they can get away with when they appear.”
NYU Journalism Professor Jay Rosen laid out a simple plan on his
blog to rectify the “anything goes” attitude on most Sunday morning
shows: a post-show fact-checking session on Sunday, publishing the
results online Wednesday.
“The beauty of this idea is that it turns the biggest weakness of political television into a kind of strength,” Rosen writes. “The format
beckons (guests) to evade, deny, elide, demagogue and confuse. …
But then they pay for it later if they give into temptation and make
that choice.”
There were two major responses to Rosen’s post from the Sunday
shows. Jake Tapper, temporary host of This Week on ABC, embraced
the idea and is now collaborating with the Pulitzer Prize-winning
fact-check source, Politifact.com. Gregory, however, brushed off the
idea, telling Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz, "People can
fact-check Meet the Press every week on their own terms."

Breer, a political-science
student from Colorado, was
inspired by Rosen’s suggestion
and started a Facebook group,
Meet the Facts, as a grassroots
effort to urge Gregory and Meet
the Press to embrace the proposal. Shortly thereafter, Chas
Danner, a journalism student
from Brooklyn, approached
Breer on Facebook about developing a site for the project.
Far before the Meet the Facts
Facebook group reached 600
members, Breer and Danner’s
grassroots effort rapidly received media commentary and coverage,
even a nine-minute segment on The Colbert Report. When asked
why he thinks press coverage has become a popular issue, Breer
said, “It’s such a cool subject (to the media), you know, because it’s
about them. (And) to see that two young college kids, that aren’t 50plus, are interested in this, has really grabbed their attention.”
After nearly a week of being ignored by Gregory and Meet the
Press, Breer and Danner gave in to many supporters’ requests that
Meet the Facts facilitate the fact checking for Meet the Press. Meet
the Facts posted its first fact check on April 28, “to see how difficult
it would be for a team of three people, amateurs really, to try to do
the job of professional journalists – the job Meet The Press is so far
unwilling to do,” Danner wrote.
Since then, Meet the Facts has incorporated crowd-sourcing factcheck efforts from Twitter followers, Facebook supporters and anyone else interested in being a part of the project. Although it is not
likely most of the Sunday morning viewers will look online throughout the week for results, the goal is to at least create some consequences if guests deliberately make false claims on the air.
“The fact check might, over time, exert some influence on the
speakers on Sunday,” Rosen’s original proposal said. “At the very
least, it would guide the producers in their decisions about whom
to invite back.”
But I disagree. At the very least, we might, over time, be able to expect the hosts of Sunday morning shows to guarantee their professional platform is more sophisticated than a Facebook interchange
between two amateurs.

Letter to the Editor
kept getting bills and sent proof of my insurance to them and called them three
Employed and Homeless
or four times.
To the Editor:
This is for Margo Pierce. I read her cover story in the Contributor, “Being
Homeless is Illegal” (see the March 1 edition of Streetvibes).
I have wanted to tell my story for a long time. I contacted the local news
and so did some of my newfound friends back then, but no one was interested
in my story. My home was foreclosed on in April 2006. From April to October
2006, I tried the weekly-rate places. I finally found some who would rent to
me and let me pay part and part. It was a duplex/townhouse type place. Bad
move. The owners did not keep the property up; and during the winter of 2006,
with my heat on 80 degrees, I had two to three inches of ice on the inside of
the windows and a light bill I could not pay. On April 1 or 2, 2007, I went to the
women's mission.
There is more but it would take too long. I know from personal experience
there are homeless women who actually have jobs, but due to their income
they cannot get enough together to get back into a place to call home. Like
me, I did not make enough to get back in a place, but yet I made too much to
qualify for assistance. It works the same way today. I make like $20 too much
to get help with utilities, but in the winter I don't make enough to pay them
current. I am usually two to three months behind. It is hard to pay it all and
still have food.
But I will be back into a place to call home two years come July. The way I got
back into a place was because of my yearly longevity, income tax refund and
new friends. And thank God because of the economy some utility companies
have been more understanding, if you talk to the right person to make arrangements. And one thing I learned during my homelessness: Your old friends who
were for you when things were good are not there when things are bad.
I recall one incident while staying at the Women's Mission in May of 2007,
over the Memorial Day weekend. I went to bed with a headache, thought it
would go away once I got some sleep. Woke up about 3 a.m. it was just a pounding. I asked the mission staff to call 911. When the medics arrived, by it being
the mission, they assumed I was homeless, with no job or insurance. When
they found out, a female medic's reply was, “I thought only drug addicts, etc.
stayed here.” I let her know there were several women there who had jobs. She
apologized. It took me months to get Metro Ambulance to file my insurance. I

My sister and brother-in-law thought I should be ashamed of having to
spend time at the mission and losing my home. And that is another interesting
story as well. No contact with me for 10 years by her choice – then out of the
blue, my brother-in-law calls.
Even to this day, since I work downtown, if I come across a lady I knew from
the mission, I will speak and take the time to ask how are they.
I also know what it is like to have pets and be homeless as well. I know how
those from Tent City feel.
Barbara F. Duke
Nashville, Tenn.

Have something on your mind?
Do you agree or disagree
with an article?
Let us know:
117 E. 12th Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
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12

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

Short Story

We the Jury

Adventures in the Hamilton County justice system
By Michael Fanning
Contributing Writer

dressed older woman who seems the typical sidekick to a person of this
sort, meek and comparatively quiet. I dub these women Fat Man and
Little Boy respectively, despite the sex discrepancy.
Part I: Waiting
I flip through the “Juror’s Handbook.” It is only a few pages, outlining
how we are chosen for juries and what to expect. It informs us we will
’ve always wanted to send somebody to the Chair. My fantasies be paid $19 per diem and warns, “Don’t try to discover evidence on your
usually feature myself in the small, tension-filled deliberating own.” Fat Man cackles as I leaf through it.
room, being the lone “not guilty” in a room full of vindictive snapBy 9 o’clock 40 or 50 people are in the waiting room. There’s quite a vadecision makers. My fellow jurors then give me the look of death because riety of characters. They range from Fat Man and Little Boy to a few men
lunch will now have to be ordered in.
who look like retired four star generals or CEOs. The latter group clearly
“It was the right thing to do,” I’d tell my grandchildren, they gazing looks disappointed to be here as they watch the drooling and unkempt
at me with admiration, having heard my story a thousand times before leaf through their handbooks while simultaneously keeping an eye out
from other admirers. Would they, too possess, my strength of character if for Sam Waterston.
the need presented itself?
A beautiful young blond woman enters the waiting room. She is stunNeedless to say, these fantasies never involved petty crimes, like a ning, the kind of woman who makes you want to slay a dragon. From
lady kicking a cop in the shins or some lunatic exposing himself to the all directions of the room, disheveled men descend on her. She wears a
public library’s children’s department. Oh, no. I’m at
skimpy black top with spaghetti straps and her arrival
Nuremberg. I’m at the Scopes Monkey Trial sweltering
is the most interesting turn of events thus far. That
in tweed, watching the veins in William Jennings Bryan’s
The thought that this man
interest abates somewhat when her cell phone rings
temples swell.
out to the tune of “Jump Around” by House of Pain. Fat
could be deciding the fate
I have shaped history with my verdict – or at least
of another human being in Man cackles.
watched the accused writhe in nervous agony as we, the
I have brought a book with me in case there is notha court of law makes me
jury, file back into the box.
blanch. However, he might ing to read. My fears were in vain. There is an extraorGuilty, not guilty, life, death, 20, 40, 60 years, to be
have been making a public dinary selection of magazines available on all conceivserved concurrently, consecutively, whatever. But I had display of his cognitive im- able topics. The selection includes Health, Cooking
never done it for real.
potence in an attempt to be Light, Fitness, Symphony, In Style, Country, Travel and
When I received my first summons to appear for jury
Leisure, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, People, Betexcused from duty.
duty, it was an oversized postcard with a perforated
ter Homes and Gardens, Field and Stream, National
questionnaire to be taken to the jury commissioner’s ofGeographic, Golf, Fortune, Redbook, Sports Illustrated,
fice. The questionnaire asked how many people were in my household, Parenting, Fashion Rocks Inc. Popular Science, Time, This Old House, Town
my income bracket and whether my employer would compensate me and Country, Woman’s Day, Money, Business, 2.0, Southern Living, Southwhile I was serving.
ern Living Home Companion, Family Circle, In Touch, Gourmet, Real Sim“Just tell ’em no,” my immediate supervisor told me. “That’ll get ya ple, GQ, Vogue, Good Housekeeping, Gardens Illustrated, Small Gardens,
off.”
Smithsonian, Cincinnati Magazine, Backyard Living, Great Backyards, Us
Though I would be compensated, I realized this could be an effective and Martha Stewart Living. There is also Highlights (for those soon to be
way to get out of serving. But I was too excited at the prospect of being excused from duty).
part of a jury, getting to see a real case unfold before me. Not to menThere are Reader’s Digest condensed books as well. I have never picked
tion the fact that I wanted a short vacation from my job, which I loathed, up a condensed book, but I imagine Treasure Island with the character
along with my immediate supervisor.
of Jim omitted or Tom Clancy novels cut to an appropriate length. I also
imagine adding water to a condensed book and having all the edited text
Where’s Waterston?
suddenly reappear.

I

We start at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday. There are so many signs inside the
courthouse telling prospective jurors where to go that it would be impossible, save for blindness or illiteracy, to become lost. The jury commissioner’s office is nothing more than a large waiting room with a few
small offices for secretaries and the commissioner himself. The waiting
room resembles a small movie theater with six rows of interconnected
black plastic seats. These seats face a bare white wall, and the U.S. and
Ohio flags adorn either corner. There are no windows, for reasons which
will seem obvious before long. I choose the seat with the least amount of
dandruff.
People trickle in and seats begin to fill. For some time the room is virtually silent until two women enter and seat themselves in the front row.
They are having a loud conversation, but it becomes clear after a minute
that only one of them is doing the talking. She is morbidly obese, walks
with a cane and looks and is dressed like an aged Janis Joplin. She must
be about 50. Her voice reverberates in the quiet room, and after every
sentence she cackles madly. The sound is obnoxious and shrill, a sort
of “YAAAAA, HA, HA, HA, HAAAAA, HA,HA!” With her is a petite, neatly

Empty jury box. REUTERS/Fred Prouser.

Courtroom fashion
Nineteen dollars per day. My immediate supervisor, who had served
on a jury the previous year, told me that, at that amount, after the cost
of food and parking, I’d be in the hole by the end of the week. I had to remind him that, while working for him, after the cost of food and parking,
I am well acquainted with said hole.
I have no idea if any of the other people are being compensated by their
employers for this civic duty or have to rely on the 19 bucks. The retired
CEOs would survive, but I imagine some others could be hard hit. When
handing in our questionnaires, I caught a Glimpse of Fat Man’s paper;
she had checked “Disabled” and “Less than $10,000 per year income.” I
would be sympathetic but her incessant cackling, which has been going
on for more than an hour, only makes me want to disable her further.
At last the jury commissioner comes to address us. He tells us to scoot
forward and fill the remaining seats, as more will be joining us shortly.
Looking around the room at our motley crew, I think we resemble an
enormous bus stop.
The commissioner is a profoundly congenial man,
50ish, with a thick head of silver hair. I must admit
that – no doubt to the thrill of more than a few in the
room – he looks just like Sam Waterston. He thanks us
profusely for serving and not coming up with lame excuses for not showing up. He explains that we will sit in
this room until our names are called over the intercom
to begin jury selection for a case. If for some reason we
cannot sit in on a case – if we know the cops involved
or went to high school with the defendant and hated
his guts, etc. – we will return to this room until called
again. Jury duty can last as long as two weeks, depending on the cases.
The issue parking is addressed, and we are told
which lots offer discounted rates to jurors. These lots
are all a good 10-minute walk or more from the courthouse. The commissioner then pushes a TV to the
front of the room and begins a tape that, he says, will
last, “Sixteen minutes and 10 seconds.” The tape reiterates everything he’s just explained to us.
A Q&A session follows the video. The first question
is from a heavyset man in the back row who gruffly
asks, “Why aren’t the names of the discount parking
lots just printed on the summons card we all received

See Jury, p. 13

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

Short Story

We the Jury
Continued from page 12

13

being read. The man on the phone goes on and on, yelling something
about pressure readings or release valves. I am left to assume that the
in the mail?” This is an excellent question; but, as the commissioner po- party on the other end is either in a boiler room or perhaps in the boiler.
litely points out, the addresses are printed on the summons card. In fact,
A few minutes pass and I begin to feel bad about my attitude toward
the addresses – and directions to the garages from all the major high- my companion on the phone. He’s given up his time – profitable work
ways, as well as the rates – comprise 95 percent of the text on the card. time – to be here to serve, darn it. Doesn’t he deserve my respect? People
The thought that this man from the back row could be deciding the fate might need to talk to their employers and employees while waiting, and
of another human being in a court of law makes me blanch. However, it I shouldn’t get so irritable. Here, in this moment, I feel a sudden bond
later occurs to me that he might have been making a public display of his with my fellow citizens that I hadn’t felt up to this point. I am proud to be
cognitive impotence in an attempt to be excused from duty. If this were here. Proud to serve with each and every one of them.
the case, kudos!
Though they be decrepit, bizarre or without a nerve in
The commissioner pulls no punches about jury duty. The pay is “not their body, we are all on the same team now. Anything The waiting room
great,” there is a lot of tedious waiting; but, he assures us in the same they want to do is fine with me, and I will leave my
is church-quiet
warm manner with which he has informed us of everything else, our ser- snobbish attitude at the door.
now. Fat Man
vice is greatly appreciated, and we are the very heart of the American JusThen the TV is pushed to the front of the room. Is
and Little Boy
tice System. He means it, and you can tell.
this some sort of a plot? Can’t they handle quiet? An- are sleeping – or
We are also informed that our pay can be donated to various organiza- other day without TV is apparently too much to ask of
someone has
tions, charities, and even to the Justice Center itself. The commissioner this crew. A man with no fingers on his right hand has blackjacked them,
expounds on the impact these programs have had citywide since their positioned the TV, turned it on and flopped into the
I guess.
inception. The United Way has benefitted greatly as has the courthouse, seat in front of it. Divorce Court is on, followed by Texwhich uses the money for, among other things, better accommodations as Justice. I watch for a few minutes with a look that refor the jurors. Programs have also been started by the Hamilton County flects my disappointment. I look around the room hoping to find similar
Justice Center to help local youths set goals for themselves, and otherwise looks of distaste and intrusion. But what do I find? They are enraptured
turn them away from the path to prison, upon which they have already by the programs. There are giggles and cathartic grins when the judge
begun to tread. I donate nothing.
comes up with a witty slam.
The dress code, the commissioner explains, can be anything that
I close my book and go to the restroom to purge something. The fat guy
would be appropriate to wear in a courtroom. He directs a glance at the at the end of the row stands as I pass.
spaghetti strapped blond, which seems to mean, “We won’t be wearing
Two hours go by.
that again, will we?”
The TV is still on, and everyone is watching except the spaghettistrapped hottie (today wearing a brown long sleeved sweater) who apLost in space
pears to be watching nothing at all. No wonder there’s not a window in
this place, for I would surely be crawling out of it and leaping onto SycaAt 10:30 a.m. the commissioner takes his leave.
more Street. My fall, no doubt, would be cushioned by hundreds of disI read for over an hour. Becoming a little drowsy, I decide to close my carded jurors’ handbooks.
book and observe those around me. The waiting room is church-quiet
Not a single call yet for a jury selection. Yesterday they had called two
now. Fat Man and Little Boy are sleeping – or someone has blackjacked by now.
them, I guess. I have to admit I love the idea of this jury thing so far. I’ll
I excuse myself from the aisle again, this time to sample the hot chococatch up on some books, sit in on a case or two, all the while getting paid late in the next room. There is also coffee, but I know that as soon as I
by my boss. What more could anyone ask?
finish a cup I’ll be called for a lengthy trial. It is easy for
A few minutes later, 20 names are called over the inme to picture myself sitting in the jurors’ box, needing
tercom. I am not among them. These people get up and
She is stunning, the kind
desperately to urinate and urging the judge to declare
file out of the room.
a mistrial, which I’m pretty sure the handbook says is
of woman who makes you
Most people are reading at this point. Some have want to slay a dragon. From not allowed. In the last few years this need to urinate
brought their own books, some read from the staggerafter coffee is no ordinary urge, but a compulsion,
all directions of the room,
ing selection of magazines. No one reads the condensed
sudden and violent. This is one of the many treats of
disheveled men descend
books. Most of the books from home are James Patgetting older I have recently experienced, along with
upon her.
terson’s now co-written travesties or Nicholas Sparks
profuse hair loss and marriage.
books like The Notebook. Women read these; men read
The hot chocolate is pretty good. Seating myself
the magazines. Some of the men sleep in their chairs, and some sit and again, I notice that Texas Justice has been served and the TV is off. People
do nothing. The man next to me seems perfectly content to stare at the are beginning to look restless, and I don’t blame them. Blond Hottie looks
walls. He is well dressed, looks educated and yet apparently has the ca- frazzled. Her head darts from side to side like a cornered animal.
pacity to shift his brain into such a low gear that he can pass the time in
The overhead speaker pops to life with an announcement that it is
this manner. He’s been at it for over an hour. I am reminded of 2001 A time for our lunch hour. It is most welcome news, although the thought
Space Odyssey: The crew are kept in a sort of suspended animation during of returning afterward will be tough to stomach. We are instructed to rethe interminable voyage to Jupiter, because there simply isn’t anything to port back in a timely manner.
do. It’s like that. I pass my hand in front of his eyes – nothing.
Soon another large group of people are called for cases. Again I am not
Don’t touch that dial
picked. Why am I reminded of the fifth grade?
The worst part about the layout of the waiting room is made clear when
After a $5 meatball hoagie from Subway, which feels like a sleeping rachaving to get up for something. In this case, the waiting room is exactly coon in my stomach, I reluctantly climb the marble stairs to report back
like a movie theater. Legs have to be retracted, magazines go flat against to purgatory. The fingerless man has turned on the TV again and for the
the chest. The heavyset man at the end of my row has to stand as I pass next hour will be watching a show about safety in the workplace and the
to use the restroom.
environmental responsibility of major corporations. It is stultifying. The
Upon arriving back at my seat, there is an announcement that no other whole thing has the production value of one of those instructional vidjuries will be selected today, and we are to return in the morning.
eos you watch when you get a low-paying job (like jury duty). Monotone
voices give lifeless testimonies of what life in their small town before such
The urge to jump
and such company came along, put up a factory and killed off the perch
population.
The next day only 23 of us are in the waiting room. I had debated
After a time I observe the fingerless man. He is seated in front of the TV
whether to bring my book for the second day, figuring I could just kill again but is clearly not watching it. His head is resting on his shoulder. He
the half hour or so before my group is assigned to a case by perusing the is obviously asleep. The program is maddening and impossible to ignore
boggling array of trade-specific magazines. I’m glad I brought my book. as the volume is way up. I consider being bold enough to turn it off, but I
Little did I know that, before actually getting a case, I would have time to get a look from the fat guy at the end of my aisle that means, “Don’t even
start crocheting an afghan.
think about it.” How can there possibly be nothing else to watch? Where’s
More than an hour passes and I take a break from reading. Aside from Judge Judy, for God’s sake?
Fat Man’s periodic outbursts (she wasn’t picked yesterday) the waiting
The fingerless man gets up and leaves the room. No one turns off the
room is quiet. This place is, of course, not a library, but a certain pro- TV.
tocol has been established, built on mutual respect, to keep the atmoA few minutes later I hear the most delightful words I have ever heard
sphere tranquil. Silence, we have voted without ballots, is the best mode in my life. Not the “I love you” of a beautiful girl or “We’ve decided to hire
for this.
you anyway, despite your woeful lack of qualifications.” This is something
But, as in all libraries, there are troublemakers. There is a vibrating more meaningful, resonant. It stirs a feeling deep within that,
noise to my right, and suddenly the man seated there became engaged in
I imagine, was shared by the prisoners of war liberated in the Philipthe loudest phone conversation I have ever witnessed. Navy flight-deck pines. These words are, “Will the remaining jurors please report to the
crews do not shout this loudly. I look around, expecting turning heads hall?”
and surly expressions but, to my surprise, no one seems to notice. This
After the morning’s viewing pleasure, courtesy of the fingerless man,
man’s voice is the only sound in the room – period. However, people take I’m in a salty humor and ready to send somebody to prison.
magazines from the bountiful magazine rack as if nothing is amiss. Titles
Part II will appear in the June 1 edition.
such as Ombudsman Digest and, Roller Coaster Mechanic’s Journal are
Michael Fanning lives in Hartwell with his trophy wife, Alex.

14

STREETVIBES
May 15 - 31, 2010

Sports

The Horns of Kobe Bryant
A player fades and an antichrist rises
By B. Clifton Burke
Contributing Writer

T

he bumps on Kobe's head grew a little
more every off-season. Some figured
he had developed brain tumors, others thought he wore his hats too tight, but no
one knew for sure. Kobe himself said he was
fine and that he had it checked out regularly
by doctors, though their names were never
divulged. He admitted that it was a strange
condition, but that it was not harming his
game or his life and that it didn't hurt.
Then, at 35, when he returned to play his
16th season, the horns started to show. At
first the bumps opened into small sores and
Kobe refused to talk with reporters, covering
the openings with bandages and wearing his
tight hats more than usual. But the season
soon began, and the media pressure became
too great. The original reason Kobe gave for
the bandages was that he had a skin disorder
that had become inflamed. Wild speculation
began to circulate that he had contracted a
bizarre STD and would soon be dead. Kobe
brought out a doctor who said it was a skin
disorder that had become inflamed and that
he was not expected to die anytime soon.
Meanwhile, his play reached new levels.
Not only did he average 38.3 points a game
after his first 20 games, but to a man, each
player Kobe defended said that they had
never faced defense that intense. More than
one player said Kobe was playing like a man
possessed and most wondered how an aged
veteran could raise his game so dramatically.
Soon the bandages couldn't cover what
was happening underneath. The horns were
nearly half an inch long and quickly became
the worst kept secret in the NBA. The first to
talk was teammate Lamar Odom, who grew
tired of answering questions about it.
“They're horns, all right? Kobe has horns. I
don't get it either,” Odom said.
The league said Odom was out of hand to
make such a farfetched accusation about another player and fined him fifty grand. Kobe's
publicist announced via Twitter that Kobe
did not have horns and didn't think Odom's
statement was funny. Kobe himself had no
comment.
Then came the clincher.

On a Christmas Day game against the
Knicks in New York, Kobe, guarded by Jon
Wall, took one dribble to the left, made a
quick crossover to his right and aggressively drove the lane. He cocked back his arm
and prepared to boom a thunderous dunk
when Wall wantonly crashed into him, sending Kobe into the throng of photographers
perched just behind the basket. His right
bandage fell off when he hit the floor – and
his horn was exposed.
The players on the court reacted right away.
Knicks forward David Lee saw it and sprinted
into the locker room. Kobe's teammate Pau
Gasol, saw it and refused to play. Eventually,
the whole arena saw it on the big screen and
freaked out. The refs were flummoxed. They
made Kobe leave the game for what was later
explained as “concern for his health.” Once
Kobe was removed from the game, play resumed but the outcome no longer mattered.
It became arguably the most famous NBA
game of all time, yet very few remember who
won.
Afterward, Kobe's publicist once again denied his client had horns. Kobe wouldn't talk
to anyone. But it was too late. The cameras
had caught it, all those close-up had seen it,
and it simply couldn't be mistaken for anything else. They were still just nubs, but they
curled upward to a point, almost like an elephant's tusk. There were two of them, and
they bulged from his forehead.
Kobe had to admit it; he could hide it no
longer. He gave a press conference where he
wore no bandages on his head for the first
time in months. There he displayed both of
his horns, which had grown to a full inch. He
explained that he didn't know why he had
horns, that he was sorry for lying about it and
that they still didn't hurt.
The world had a hard time dealing with
Kobe Bryant growing horns. Many, many
people assumed he was the antichrist and
some cities experienced riots anticipating
Armageddon. Others threatened to kill Kobe
if he surfaced, claiming to do so would be to
conquer the devil himself. It was determined
that it was unsafe for him to play and he was
effectively banned in the name of his personal welfare.
Kobe was furious; he only wanted to play

basketball; and even though he was clearly
the world's best player, he was not allowed to
do so because of his physical abnormality. He
sued the NBA under the Americans with Disabilities Act but the court ruled that having
horns was not a disability, and he missed the
rest of the season. The Lakers barely made
the playoffs without him and were swept in
the first round.
The league itself raised questions, asking if
Kobe should even be considered human. The
NBA decided that every win Kobe had participated in would be upheld but denoted with
asterisks, and he would be allowed to play the
following season. That seemed to settle the
issue. The public furor against him lessened.
The news sensation of Kobe and his horns
slipped off the front page.
He returned for his 17th season brandishing two-inch horns on each side of his forehead, but he was not the same player on the
court either. He appeared physically smaller
and less muscular and lacked his normal athleticism; the Lakers fell out of playoff contention early on in the season. Once Cleveland
finally captured its first championship and
LeBron announced he was a homosexual, the
world completely forgot about Kobe and his
physical oddity.
As did the NBA. Once the Lakers cut the
former MVP, there weren't any other takers
for a 37-year-old veteran with nothing left
in his tank and horns on his head. So, with
nothing else to do, Kobe went about his business of bringing about Armageddon and fulfilling his actual role of the antichrist. The
religious zealots were right after all. Once
the end of the world was complete and Kobe
could rest comfortably again, someone asked
him about what happened that last year of
his playing career.
“I could have used special powers to play
basketball but I never did,” he said. “I always
just used my human capabilities. But once
everyone found out what I really was, they
would never accept me again. Sure, I was allowed to come back. But what did it matter?
Any success would have been looked down
upon. To fade away like that wasn't what I
wanted to do, but it was the human thing to
do.”

Call to Artists

Go Ahead: Ask a Vendor

SOS Art 2010 accepting entries

Invitation to a dialogue with our readers

SOS Art 2010, a group art show and event of sociopolitical expressions for
peace and justice, will take place May 28-June 6 at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Streetvibes vendors see a lot that you might not. For example, some
can describe what goes on in an abandoned building at night when
they sleep there.

Organized by Streetvibes columnist Saad Ghosn, the annual show is in its
eighth year. Ghosn writes the bi-weekly column, “Artists as Activists.” (See
page 16.)

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to stand on a street corner selling newspapers? That’s hardly a common occupation anymore.

Greater Cincinnati artists of all expressions – visual, verbal, musical, cinematographic, etc. – are welcome to participate in SOS Art 2010. All submissions will be considered and all works will be included, provided they
adhere to the theme of the show, are inclusive and space permits, Ghosn
says.
A submission form is required for the visual-art component of the event.
Artists of other expressions may submit proposals by e-mail return. Write
Saad Ghosn at 216 Erkenbrecher Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45229 or at saad.
ghosn@uc.edu.

How much money do Streetvibes vendors make – and what do they do
with it? Do they have other jobs?
If you have questions, some of our vendors would like to answer
them. “Go Ahead: Ask a Vendor” will be an occasional feature, with
questions submitted by readers and answered by Streetvibes vendors.
You may direct your question to a specific vendor or we’ll invite one
to respond. Only include your name if you want to.
Send questions to streetvibes2@yahoo.com
Or to Streetvibes, 117 E. 12th St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.

The deadline is May 10.
Go ahead. Ask.

Missed an Issue? Check out the Streetvibes archive at
www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes

STREETVIBES
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The Opposite of Counterfeit
Andy Au’s new money shows true values
“As a child, if you’re sensitive with a crazy imagination, the world
scares you and bad things impact you,” says Andy Au. “You need to let
them out.”
This is why since, as early as he can remember. Au has been drawing – and mostly monsters, creatures with many arms, legs, eyes. At age
5, after watching the movie Star Wars, he spent hours trying to draw
from memory what he had seen. In first grade, during spelling tests, he
drew dinosaurs eating the words; as a “reprimand,” he had to do a “star
wars” display on the blackboard. His parents and high school art teacher encouraged his artistic inclinations; they provided him with paper to
draw, praised his ability, and exposed him early on to the world of art.
Au, an artist printmaker born in Chicago and raised in rural West
Virginia, has also lived in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans. He recently settled in Cincinnati. He received his bachelor of fine arts degree
at Asbury College in Kentucky and his master of fine arts degree at the
University of Cincinnati, majoring in printmaking.
As an undergraduate, his work had no unifying theme; it was mostly
intuitive, focusing on skills and techniques. In grad school, however, it
dealt with content, looking at the big picture, connecting dots between
the whys and whats. A recurrent subject in Au’s earlier prints was “utopia,” what life should be as opposed to what it is; and the truncated
illusion of the ideal world American society wanted to project.
Utopia appeared as unrealized hope, ironically represented by twisted interconnected figures, fighting for space, for fulfillment, aiming at
something different, hopefully better. Au wanted it to be a reflection
on both the world’s situation – with its overwhelming growing population and conflicts – and the individual, his personal and spiritual space
invaded and obstructed. Another topic he explored was the takeover
by civilization of tribal life. Au pointed out that, thanks to its efficient
organization, specialization, successful means
of survival, control and
domination,
“civilization” was imposing itself
and its “uncivilized” valas
ues, effacing worldwide
the more humane communal ways of living.
By Saad Ghosn
At the beginning Au felt
Contributing Writer
ill at ease showing and
sharing his critical work.
Someone had told him he
was only depicting the bad and not contributing any solution.
“My work addresses problems rather than providing fixes,” he acknowledges. “I often do not have the answer. I think, however, that
by pointing to the wrong, I’m also pointing to the right … by showing

A

rtists
ctivists

Bank Note #1: Project for the New American Century by Andy
Au. Photo by Andy Au.

Andy Au. Photo by.
what is, my art hopefully implies what should be. One cannot provide
solutions unless knowing the cause of the problem.”
After graduating and living with his wife in Italy, then Washington,
D.C., Au’s work became more political. His experience abroad exposed
him to diverse political issues and opinions reflected by varying, more
factual and critical news in the European media. Washington immersed
him in a daily political bath and multifaceted reality that sharpened his
awareness. This is also when he became acutely conscious of excess in
the midst of poverty in the world.
He has since created numerous politically themed print portfolios,
all connected, each addressing particular concerns of societal life.
The Five Evils, inspired by the book, God’s Last Offer by Ed Ayres, consisted of 10 etchings addressing the four primary alarming increases
on earth identified by Ayres as threats to humanity: overpopulation,
carbon dioxide emission, consumption of resources and extinction of
species. Au added a fifth enactor, war.
The Mechanical Animals represented sociopolitical creatures acting
mechanically, without much thinking, regardless of their knowledge
of the problem. They each contribute individually to the creation and
persistence of a dire situation, unaware of its consequences. The images referenced the clockwork mechanisms of oppression, conquest,
power and war. Mechanical Animal #2, for instance, titled Civilizer and
Pyramidicus Societus, depicts civilization’s pyramidal system of organization with a ruler at the top controlling and subjugating the masses
of individuals underneath, using them to perpetuate domination and
self-benefit.
Au’s History of Thugs was an extension of his research on historical perspectives, influenced by Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the
United States. Following the premise that history needed several perspectives – not only of those in power – to yield a complete view, Au researched and pictorially depicted 70 American history figures heralded
as brave vanguard elements of a Democratic nation. Examined from
the side of the oppressed, marginalized and minorities, the actions of
these “heroes,” however, proved base and corrupt. Au drew them as
grotesque monsters.
Realizing that what is displayed on money states what is valued by
the system, Au wanted to create alternate money illustrating the negatives society has created. The Banque d’Epoch Eclipse was his new currency. Bank Note #1: Project for the New American Century, a print from
the series, represents a bill displaying a rhinoceros, with a lighthouse
for a horn, standing on top of a government building. The rhino, an
extremely nearsighted, powerful animal will charge at things not knowing what they are. Au used it as a metaphor for the actions of our mightdriven government, which stands defiantly above the offices it holds,
acts as a beacon for the world, yet follows a shortsighted, self-confident
approach. A moth in the background alludes to those who do not see
the truth, just follow the light and burn themselves.
Au’s latest print series, Memebiotics and Binarians address “memes,”
broad-based sociopolitical views, possibly false, that one is taught
from a young age, passed on by parents, rarely questioned. They become transmitted like genes, spread like viruses, strengthening each
other’s effects. Many have binary functions of polarity within a culture,
“either/or” truth claims that divide and separate individuals. One example is literal interpretation of the Bible versus scientific reality.
Au uses his art to reflect on the world, express his knowledge and
thinking, state his beliefs and affirm himself as a human being. His images are meant to push buttons in the viewer, aggravate a response,
trigger thinking, raise consciousness.
“My art is my communication,” he says. “It is my means to express
and share who I am, my values, convey ideas difficult to put in words
and state them poetically.”

Artists as Activists is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati artists who use art as a vehicle for change.
Saad Ghosn is the founder of SOS Art. Ghosn can be contacted at saad.ghosn@uc.edu.